Alsons 100-MW Zambo plant cuts output by half

ALSONS Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACRI) said a 100-megawatt (MW) diesel plant in Zamboanga City operated by its unit had to cut its power output by half on Friday due to delays in fuel delivery.

The 100-MW plant of Western Mindanao Power Corp. (WMPC) is expected to resume operating at full capacity by Sunday at the latest.

Alsons was notified by the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) of the delay in fuel delivery due to “some hitches in [their]procurement process that were beyond [their]control.”

“In light of this development, the WMPC plant will be forced to reduce its output by half to 50 MW per hour beginning midnight of Friday, 29 May 2015,” said ACRI.

The plant should resume operating at full capacity by Sunday or until the plant is able to utilize the fuel scheduled for arrival on Saturday, ACRI said.

“WMPC deeply regrets the resulting inconvenience to the power consumers of the Mindanao grid due to PSALM’s delay in fuel supply delivery,” ACRI added.

In justifying the delay, PSALM explained that its new fuel supplier encountered some problems with the Bureau of Customs (BoC) in the release of the product.

“As a stop-gap measure, the supplier resorted to tank truck deliveries which are not enough to sustain the plant requirements,” said PSALM.

PSALM, however, assured ACRI that the fuel supplier’s barge is scheduled to arrive at the WMPC Port on Saturday with a load of 3,900 kL (kilo liters) of fuel.

Under the existing Energy Conversion Agreement between WMPC and the National Power Corporation (NPC) with PSALM, the latter is responsible for supplying and delivering the fuel required for the operations of the WMPC diesel plant.

The agreement also requires NPC/PSALM to ensure at all times that the necessary stocks of fuel required by the plant will be made available.

“We would like to assure Mindanao power consumers that we at WMPC will work hand in hand with PSALM to ensure that we are able to operate at full capacity at the soonest time possible,” said ACRI.

The power facilities of the Alcantara-led ACRI are mainly focused on the island of Mindanao where these plants play a key role in providing electricity to for the region’s growing population and expanding economy.

Aside from the WMPC plant that began operations in 1997, ACRI also operates a 55-MW diesel-fired power plant of Southern Philippines Power Corp. (SPPC) in Alabel, Sarangani Province.